Child Support

Featured Topics

While sending and receiving child support payments used to be the responsibility of the participating parents, many states have now moved to a system where instead of making direct payments to the payee, the… Keep reading »

In many divorces, the issue of child support is one of the most difficult to resolve. At LoveToKnow Divorce, you'll find a wealth of useful and accurate information that will help you better understand how these issues will affect the ending of your marriage.

Child Support Information

Child support is money the non-custodial parent must pay to the custodial parent to help with expenses related to caring for the minor children from the couple's marriage. Each parent is legally and morally obligated to support his or her children while they are minors. In the case of a child with special needs, the obligation to pay may not end when the child becomes an adult.

While the amount of child support that must be paid varies according to factors such as the parent's income, cost of providing health insurance to the child, and obligations to children from previous marriages, there are many child support calculators that can be used to estimate how much support a parent might be expected to pay. Non-custodial parents are encouraged to check child support payments to ensure that they are being credited appropriately.

Legal Issues

Child support laws vary by state, so it's best to contact a qualified divorce attorney for information regarding your particular case. However, it's important to realize that all states take child support enforcement very seriously. A parent who fails to make the legally required child support payments faces losing his/her driver's license, income tax refund, and/or property. In some cases, criminal charges may even be filed.